Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-18
BILL ARP AND BILL NYE Att.
The southerr Humofist Says Funny Thing:
and HyC Adds TO Them
New York World

Tho southern Humorist Says Funny Things
and HyU Adds 70 Them
New FORK World.
People who went to Chickering hall
last evening to hear the southern humor-
list lecture on "Dixie Now and Dixie
Them" expected to Learn something of
Mr.. Adonis Dixey's past life, were, of
course, somewhat disappointed, for the
speaker did not sllude to Henry during
the entire evening. Major Smith is best
known to the American reader as " Bill
Arp" Why he adopted the Compsra-
lively common name of Arp when ne 81
ready had the striking snd unique name
OF Smith, it is hard to say. Bill Arp Is
man perhaps ffty-dye years of age and had
two of his SONS with him in his room st
| the Fifth Avenue, one of them being g
Journalist of this city. II was his first
appearance as 3 tsiker for money in the
metropolis, and his nervousness was
something quite painful TO contemplate.
Bill Arp opened last evening to a fair
audience by describing the original Bill
Arp, from whom his nom de plume was
derived.
Major Smith managed to tell the peo-
pie g good deal about his personal mat
tiers and something about Dixie incident
ally. He was introduced by the more
than eloquent AlgernOn Sullivan, and had
his lecture in manuscript form. His de-
| livery can hardly be called easy, but his
stories are very good, and have always
been so regarded.
He says that the people of the south
are now divided into two great classes,
VIZ, those who have seen better days ana
those who hsve not. This is like the con-
! ditiOn of 3 western town where the voters
were divided into two parties, the post
master being on one side and the rest of
the people on the other.
! Major Smith said that the aristoCracY
of the south consisted of thoroughbreds,
but they were retired from the turf He
said that the ladies wore starched collars
aud Corsets anu read GOdey's Lady's
Book. 1t is to be hoped that they do not
resd Godey's Lady's Book very much in
public under those circumstances.
Bill Arp said, also, that money was
! simply social apology for the lack of
brains. This pleased me very much, but
/ it made the millionaires in the audience
squirm.
He states that after the war in the
south the girls were sent to college, while
the boys were kept at home TO work, so
that now there are ten COllege-bred girls
al the south to one college bred young
man. This would indicate that the cook
! ing at the south would soon be extremely
no b6tter.
The lecturers experience es 3 lover
and his offer to scale the ChimboTsZ0 in
order 90 secure tigers small tiger
/ for his sweetheart, was received well, al
| though il did not relate to Mr.. Dixey,
+ either DOW or previously.
| He stated that as s child he had q
furious temper, and frequently bucked
his head against d door or hit himself in
! his paroXysms His father was g Mas
sechusetts Yankee and his mother
native of South Carolina, so that the
temper Of young Arp was regarded as a
| sectiongL fight between Massachusetts
and South Carolina. He does not say
whether his mother pulled out the cen
| terbOsrd and padded him with it or not,
but she yacht to.
We wiz now suppose that q period OF
one hour has elapsed.
Toward the close of the lecture Major
Smith said that American slavery was
really kind of charity school, something
like the Dotheboys Educational Institu-
ton, possibly.
There were many good things in Bill
Apps lecture, and the people who got up
and went out before the close will Ger
tainly regret it when they come to lee
ture themselves. BILL NYE.